Snehal Upadhyay –
Published on August 26, 2021, at 09:50 IST
Delhi High Court disagreed with an argument that the State resources remained unutilized due to the reservation of facilities for COVID-19 treatment of Government Officials and their families.
The Division Bench comprising Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh observed that Judges do not live in ivory towers hence, it has seen the condition of the capital during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Court further stated that the counsel representing the petitioner does not represent the ground realities of the facts regarding the second wave of the COVID-19 in its submission.
“There was such a shortage of facilities including oxygen, medicines, hospital beds, oxygenated beds, ICUs, doctors and paramedical staff that there was no question of any facilities remaining unutilised,” the Court held.
The Bench stated that the state must provide medical facilities to all the citizens, when the pandemic was at its peak there was a greater need for governance.
“The wheels of administration in the NCT of Delhi would have come to a grinding halt without this much assurance to the officials that they will receive treatment otherwise they would not have been able to discharge their duties without fear. They would not have been able to give attention and focus with which they were expected to discharge their duties,” the Bench stated.
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